Teenage Wasteland
by Xstrawberry0fieldsforeverX
Summary: A look into the future of your favorite Degrassi characters, and their children. Cowritten by invest.yourself.in.me. Older couples feature: Sellie, Crash, JtEmma, Jalex, Jazel, Spaige, Darco, Parcy. Formerly titled Move Along
1. Background Info

**A/n: I know there are about a billion fics out here with the same old plot, but give it a chance? Please? Right now this is just like background information on the characters. The main characters will probably be Sean/Ellie, Craig/Ashley, Jay/Alex, and Jt/Emma's kids, so most of the 'episodes' will _mainly_ focus on them. Although, if you want, I can make more people main characters. The other characters will still have plot lines, but again, they won't be written about as much.**

* * *

**Sean and Ellie Cameron:** When Sean was released from prison, Ellie was there for him. Not long after, they rekindled their relationship, and got after college. They have three kids. Sean is co owner of an autoshop with Jay, while Ellie lives her dream job as a journalist for a newspaper. 

**Tara**- Tara is 17 years old, and one of the most popular girls in school. She hangs out with Melanie, Nick, Jeremy, Cassie, Mike, Michele, Lindsey, and is girlfriend to Jake Manning. She is much like Paige used to be, only somewhat nicer. She is also head cheerleader on the spirit squad.

**Daniel**- Daniel is16, and in the 11th grade. He's a loner, and is much like Sean was when he was a student at Degrassi. 

**Hope**- Hope is 15 and in the 10th grade. Her two best friend are Julia Manning and Deanna Hogart. She is much like Ellie used to be, is very into rock music, and plays the bass.

* * *

**Craig and** **Ashley Manning: **After graduating Degrassi, Ashley and Jimmy broke up, as did Craig and Manny. Both met up again when Craig returned to Toronto after the end of his music career. They got married after graduating college, and had four kids. Craig's music career failed, but he owns a small guitar shop, while Ashley works part time at the Dot. **Jake**- Jake is 18 years old, and repeating the 12th grade. He has a Sean/Jay persona, and hangs out with anyone but lower classmen. His best friend is Mike, and he is dating Tara. 

**Kurt- **Kurt (props if you can guess which musician he was named after) has a very interesting history (which won't be mentioned until later). He is 16, and in the 11th grade. He, like his father, is into photography and music, and plays the guitar. He is a loner, and hardly talks to anyone, except Julia, and will eventually fall for one of her friends.

**Julia- **Julia is 15, in the 10th grade, and has an Alex/Ellie/Ashley persona. She plays the drums, is best friends with Deanna and Hope, and is twins with Taylor.

**Taylor- **Taylor, Julia's twin, is also 15, in the 10th grade. Her personality is a lot like Paige in season 1, and Manny's in season 3. She hangs out with her own crowd. She is boy crazy, and loves male attention, and can be a total bitch sometimes, but can also be really nice at others. Taylor and Julia do not get along at all.

* * *

**Jay** and **Alex** **Hogart: **Alex is not a lesbian. After breaking up with Paige, she and Jay became closer, and eventually got back together. They got married and had four kids. Jay is the co owner of an autoshop with Sean, and Alex works part time at The Dot. **Mike**- Mike is 18 years old, in the 12th grade, because he, like Jake, failed the 12th grade on the first time around. He has a Jay/Craig persona, and like Craig, enjoys playing guitar and writing songs. He's hardly serious and loves to goof off with Jake. He'll hang out with anyone who will put up with him… unless they're losers. 

**Deanna- **Deanna is 15 and in the 10th grade. She has her own distinct personality, but has many qualities that are similar to her mother's. She is tough and won't let anything stand in her way. She plays guitar, and her best friends are Julia and Hope.

**Mary Jane- **Mary Jane (Who saw that one coming from Jay's family?) is 14, in the 9th grade. She doesn't have that many friends, hangs out with Jessica Stone. She has her own personality, but has one or two characteristics that are like those of her parents.

**Marshall**- (Props if you can guess who he's named after…) Marshall is Mary Jane's twin brother. His only friend is Matthew Isaacs, and is very similar to Toby's character. Jay is somewhat disappointed in him because of this.

* * *

**Jt and Emma Yorke: **After Sean broke up with Emma, JT was there for her. The two became closer friends and eventually fell in love and got married. Jt is now the owner of the Dot, and Emma works there with him. 

**Jeremy- **Jeremy is 16 in the 11th grade. He hangs out with the popular crowd, is on the basketball team, and is funny, much like JT. He also has a crush on another student that would be least expected from someone like him.

**Melanie- **Melanie is 15, and in the 10th grade. She is somewhat popular, and has Emma like qualities. She also has somewhat of a Manny (season 5) persona. She is on the spirit squad.

* * *

**Hazel and Jimmy Brooks**: 

**Nick- **Nick is 17, in the 12th grade. He has a Towerz/Jay (if you remember Towerz) like persona. He doesn't follow rules, and isn't anything like either of his parents.

**Terri- **Terri is 16, in the 11th grade, and was named after her parents' old friend, Terri McGreggor. She is part of the popular crowd, but is nicer than most of them. She is Tara's best friend and is single. She is also co captain of the spirit squad.

**Cassie- **Cassie is 14 and in the 9th grade. She is a tomboy, and hangs out with her own crowds. She plays hockey, football, and soccer. She is friends with some of the popular guys, only because they are on sports teams with her. Most guys don't fall for her, because they see her more as a 'guy friend' than a girlfriend.

**Chris- **Chris is 15 and in 10th grade. He is on the football team, and is part of the popular crowd because of it. One of his best friends is Jeremy Yorke.

* * *

**Paige and Spinner Mason:**

**Haley- **Haley is 15, in the 10th grade. She is friends with Taylor, and like Taylor is boy crazy, and much like Manny was in season 3. She also cheerleads.

**Eric- **Eric is 17, and in the 12th grade. He is much like Jay/Spinner/Peter. He only cares about girls, and is quick to judge others. He hangs out with Haley (despite the fact that she is his sister), Taylor, Kevin Santos, and other people in his group of friends.

* * *

**Dylan and Marco Michalchuk:**

**Lily- **Lily is Dylan and Marco's adopted daughter. She is 16 and in the 11th grade. She is friendly to everyone, but sometimes gets teased because her parents are gay. She isn't popular, or a loner, and sometimes hangs out with Cassie.

* * *

**Darcy and Peter Stone:**

**Jessica- **Jessica is Mary Jane's only friend, and vice versa. She is also 14 and in grade 9. She doesn't do much, and is very different from both of her parents.

* * *

**Manny Santos: **Once had a relationship with another man (one of the Degrassi students), got pregnant, and never told the father. The father is now married with kid(s) of his own. 

**Kevin- **Kevin is 17 in the 12th grade. He has an on and off again relationship with Taylor, and is much like Eric.

* * *

**Toby and Liberty Isaacs:**

**Matthew- **Matthew is 14, in 9th grade. Like his parents, he is a geek, and prefers studying over having a social life. His only friend is Marshall Hogart.

**

* * *

**

**Tracker and Wendy Cameron**:

**Lindsey- **Lindsey is 16, in the 11th grade. She is popular, and loves to hang out with her friends. She loves to gossip, and can sometimes be mean.

**Michele**- Michele is 17 and in the 12th grade. She hangs out with the 'popular' crowd as well, and is also on the spirit squad.

* * *

**Sound interesting or not? I can add the 'episode' summaries as the next chapter, but I'm not sure I have all of it planned out yet (I will include some, if you suggest so...) Tell me if you want me to continue...**

**Also, this is going to be cowritten by my friend, invest.yourself.in.me**

**If you're interseted, review , telling me so...**

**And if you want to see more characters than the ones that we're _mainly _****writing about, tell me so as well, and I'll come up with more plot lines...**

**Oh, and I realize that it is very unlikely that they would all be around the same age, but we need a lot of teenagers...**


	2. Long View

She knew it was going to be a long day when she awoke to someone insistently pounding on her door.

"DEANNA THIS IS THE FIFTH TIME I'VE COME UP HERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" The fifteen year old groaned and buried her head under the blankets as the door swung open. "What do I have to do? Drag you out of bed?" Her mother said, more to herself as she grabbed hold of the blankets in an attempt to rouse her daughter. "You're going to be late for school," Alex said as she left the room.

"What time is it?" Deanna mumbled, her head still under the pillow.

"Almost seven, baby sister!" An annoyingly familiar voice said.

Deanna looked up and glared at her older brother

"Get the hell out of here," she snapped.

Mike rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Good luck getting to school then," He smirked, leaving the room as well.

Deanna reluctantly got up and followed him out of the room.

"You're driving today?"

"Jake's car's in the shop."

"Oh. Your _boyfriend._" Mike scowled.

"What the hell?"

"You didn't get that? No wonder you're repeating grade 12." She sneered at him.

"Just shut the fuck up and get ready." He snapped, storming out of the room.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Deanna wondered aloud, as her door opened yet again.

"Are you up yet? Mom's really getting annoyed with you, and Dad's thinking about removing the lock on your door." Her younger brother, Marshall rambled on in one breath.

Deanna rolled her eyes and slammed the door in his face. Why was it so hard to get privacy in her house? Was her family usually this annoying? Apparently so, she thought as her dad pounded on her door, telling her to hurry up.

.XxX.

"Ugghh, please tell me this is just a bad dream," Deanna groaned, as they walked down the hallways of Degrassi community School. It was their first day of sophomore year

"Oh, it's a nightmare," Julia replied, motioning to her twin sister who was standing with her friends, flipping her hair and giggling at every guy that passed. "There's Freddy Krueger now." Deanna smirked.

"You got that right." Julia opened her mouth to reply, but spun around as someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey ladies," Matt Isaacs said with a grin. "Are you looking forward to homeroom? You guys are with me in my dad's class!"

"Again?" Deanna groaned.

"Aren't you in Grade 9?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, but I'm in your class because I'm 'Advanced', so my dad thought it would be good if I'm in class with older students."

"Yay for you." Deanna muttered sarcastically, which Matt didn't catch.

"Hey thanks! Have you seen your brother anywhere?"

"Mike?"

"No. Marshall."

"He's probably in the boys' washroom, hiding from bullies," Deanna said with a smirk.

"Cool, thanks. I'll see you in class!" And with that, he was gone.

"Finally," Julia said, wiping spit off her face.

"Yeah, he always spits when he talks. That's why everyone tries to make plans whenever Marshall attempts to invite him over."

"Gross." Julia replied slowly, as if she was thinking about something else. "Hey, where's Hope? If we have to go through hell on our first day, she should too." Deanna shrugged.

" I guess we should go find her."

Just as they started walking again, Deanna bumped into a tall blond boy.

"Sorry." She muttered, looking up to see who it was.

"No problem, Hogart." The boy said with a grin. Deanna grinned too.

"You haven't seen Hope anywhere, have you?"

"Hell if I know," Daniel grunted.

"Ok thanks, I guess." Deanna said, turning away. Julia followed, an amused expression on her face, which Deanna apparently caught.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just you and Daniel."

"Yeah. It's what we call talking."

"But he smiled at you. You smiled back."

"Just trying to be polite," Julia raised her eyebrows.

"Since when are you ever-"

"Hey you two!" A cheerful voice rang out.

"Hope!" They both shouted in unison, hugging the petite redhead.

"Where have you guys been?" "I've been running around the school this whole time, trying to find someone who wasn't loud or preppy."

"Looking for you!" Julia exclaimed. "You were usually here before me."

"I got a ride with Daniel today. We stopped at Starbucks."

"That's so unfair! This morning, my whole family kept coming up to my room and yelling at me to get up. Even my dad came up. Apparently, my mom woke him up and yelled at him to make sure everyone got out the door, so that she wouldn't be late for her shift." "I could use some caffeine too," Deanna groaned.

"Okay, emo kid." Julia smirked. "I had to walk to school today, because Jake's an idiot and his car's in the shop.

"I heard. That's why Mike dragged my ass to school." She motioned to her brother who stood with a dozen of his friends, all of them laughing at some stupid joke Mike had heard on a rerun of _Chapelle's Show _the night before.

Hope glanced at the group, rolling her eyes.

"How can anyone have that much energy at this hour?" Deanna nodded.

"He's so immature," she stated. Both girls looked towards Julia for approval. However, she was staring at someone behind the both of them. Deanna spun around and followed her friend's gaze. She rolled her eyes as soon as she saw whom Julia was staring at. Her disgusting brother.

* * *

**A/n: What do you think so far?**

**This chapter was done by invest.yourself.in.me**

**with the exception of the Freddy Krueger joke.**

**That was all me... hehe...**


	3. Wish You Were Here

The dark haired girl sighed, annoyed by two things at the moment. One, Mr. Isaacs was the most boring teacher she'd ever had (not to mention the class was just as boring). And the fact that her two friends were constantly whispering in her ear the complaints of her crush on Deanna's older brother.

"What is wrong with you?" Hope whispered, giving her a look of disgust and confusion. Julia sighed in annoyance, looked around to see where Mr. Isaacs was in relation to her.

"Why don't you guys just drop it?" She hissed, then turned back to her computer to finish her assignment.

"Because! It's you! It's my brother! It's disgusting!" Deanna cried in defense.

"Deanna, are you doing your work?" Toby asked sternly. The brunette rolled her eyes, turned back to her computer.

"I still think it's wrong," She whispered to Julia. The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes, continued to work.

"Very wrong," Hope agreed.

"First of all, I don't see what's wrong with him, and second, you better leave me alone, or I'll-"

"Fine. You want a list of what's wrong with him? He's immature, stupid, **my brother**, hangs out with the 'popular' crowd, treats me like crap, is annoying, and is best friends with your brother. Do you not see how that wouldn't work?"

"I don't give a shit what Jake thinks of it," she replied, keeping her eyes on the computer, "And I seem to remember this morning someone who was checking ou-"

"Julia, shut up! I'm trying to work here," Deanna snapped, ending the conversation.

"Deanna!" Matt exclaimed, "My dad already told you to be quiet once!" He immediately shut up after receiving a threatening glare from the brunette.

XxX

Jake Manning sat in English class, his fourth period of the day, staring at the clock which was currently tantalizing him. He had thirty minutes until lunch, and this was the longest and worst period of the day.

"Jake, when are you ever going to start doing your own work?" His girlfriend, Tara Cameron whispered, noticing he was the only one not working.

"Babe, I'll start doing my work when Mike gets an 'A' on something in this class," He replied, leaning back in his chair. Tara rolled her eyes in response.

"It's the first day of school, and we're getting work? What kind of hell hole is this?"

"You've already repeated the grade once. Why make yourself have to do it over again?"

"I've already got my career planned out. I'm gonna end up working at a gas station… Maybe I'll even become manager of 711." His eyes lazily glanced around the room at everyone else who was working hard. He knew he would never be as smart as half of them, so why try?

"Ew," The blonde replied, "No way am I marrying a gas station worker. You're going to become a doctor or lawyer."

Mike, turned around, in his seat, faced the couple.

"Yeah, man. Gas station worker is my job. Get your own," He said, flashing them a goofy grin.

"You're right," the raven haired young man replied, "I'd probably just steal from your gas station."

"Guys, you need to work harder. You could become doctors or lawyers if you wanted to," The blonde explained. "You just need to try." The classroom remained silent until the two boys burst out into laughter.

"Good one, babe," Jake replied, then silencing himself as the teacher got up and started to walk over to them.

"Let me see how much you've done, Mr. Manning," Ms. Kwan commanded, holding her hand out for his paper. Just then, the bell rang signaling their lunch period.

"Food!" Jake yelled, then darted from the room. Mike followed, shoving people out of his way.

"Out of my way, it's taco day!"

XxX

"I can't believe this!" Hope exclaimed as she and her two best friends left the school building at the end of the day. "It's the first day of school and we're already getting a shit load of homework."

"Ugghh… Don't remind me," Deanna groaned. The three of them walked down the sidewalk, heading towards Julia's house as they did every day after school to do homework. It was a warm, sunny day, the weather opposing to the feelings they were having about school at the moment.

"I have Italian, English, math, science, and history homework already," Julia complained, shifting the weight of her backpack to her other shoulder.

"Oh, we're still not done talking about your disturbing love for someone's disturbing brother," Hope reminded her, folding her arms.

"Ooh! Who's in love with who's brother?" came an annoying voice from behind the girls.

"You're in love with Julia's brother," Deanna snapped, realizing it was Mike. The boy rolled his eyes, pushing his hair back lightly.

"Oh, he wishes," He replied in an 'I'm too sexy for you' tone. He sped up his pace, catching up with the girls.

"Aren't you going to go walk with Jake?" Hope asked, annoyed.

"Nah, he's getting all gross with Tara."

"Perhaps you need to find yourself a girlfriend," Deanna replied, smirking. "Or boyfriend…"

"If you weren't a girl, I would beat you up," Mike replied, scowling at her.

"Try to take me on, bro," She replied, smirking, "I'm not scared of a wimp like you."

"Fine, I'll just shove you out in the street in front of a car," he countered.

"You guys really love each other," Julia commented sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, and I don't even hate her as much as I hate Marshall… Just imagine the kind of hell he goes through."

"Yeah, but he thinks you're joking," Deanna reminded.

"That's cause he's an idiot disguised in glasses and a pocket protector." He suddenly started singing, "Think he's just too white and nerdy-"

"He's not really white," His sister interrupted.

"Aw, shut up." The boy quickly departed from the group, seeing his friend Aiden walking near by.

"One reason not to like him," Hope commented, staring at him. "He ditches you just like that," she said, snapping to demonstrate how quickly he had left the group.

"Well that's cause Deanna's too mean to him," Julia explained.

"Deanna's mean to everybody, but we still hang around her," Hope retorted.

"Hi, right here," She said, waving her hands around.

"Yup, we know."

The girls continued walking until they finally approached Julia's house. The house was small, but ironically enough housed six people. They walked inside to see Julia's mother sitting at the kitchen table, talking to her three friends, Paige Michalchuk, Alex Nunez, and Ellie Nash.

"Oh… great…" Deanna commented, realizing that her mother was in the house.

"Oh… great," Alex replied, mocking her. "Where's your brother?" She asked, the weariness showing in her voice.

"Marshall or the other idiot?" Her daughter replied.

"Marshall. Do I need to go down to the school and get him out of a locker again?"

"Probably. I don't pay much attention to the kid."

"Wow. Great job raising your kids, hon," Paige commented, sipping a cup of coffee.

"What are you talking about, Paige? Your kids make fun of Ash's kids. Great parenting skills."

"I blame Spinner."

"What is with that lame nickname anyway?" Deanna asked.

"Deanna, I told you you're only allowed to be rude at our house. Not other people's," Alex scolded.

"It's okay, hon. It is a stupid nickname."

"Then why do you still call him that?" Ellie asked. The girls broke out into laughter.

"Gavin doesn't sound much better…"

"Okay, well we're going to be upstairs doing homework and making fun of you guys," Hope said, as the three of them headed upstairs.

"Hmm… the slut did some redecorating," Hope commented, walking into the room that Julia shared with her sister.

"Don't call her a slut. She's a skank," Julia corrected.

"Look, we can make fun of her all day, but we need to get this crap done," Deanna reminded, pulling out a binder from her messenger bag.

"Right." All three girls pulled out books, but after staring at them for two minutes, gave up.

"Want to get some snacks first?"

"Hell yes. Hope, you want anything?" The redhead shook her head, pulled another book from her backpack.

"Okay," The brunette and raven-haired girl left the room, leaving Hope alone. She opened her Geometry book, glanced at problems the teacher had given her for the day. Glancing over the problems, she realized it was easy homework, and it wouldn't take that much time to do. She pulled out a mechanical pencil from her binder, started to write her name on the paper. As she was doing so, she heard the quiet strumming of guitar from somewhere else in the house. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she left Julia's room, went upstairs to the attic; the source of the noise.

In the corner of the room stood a tall young man with shaggy dark hair, strumming lightly on the Fender Strat placed in his arms, his back turned to the rest of the room. He was Julia's brother, Kurt, whom Hope never saw much of. He kept to himself, either staying in his room or leaving the house by himself. When she did see him, he never spoke to her, or anyone else for that matter.

"Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay," He sang, her presence going unnoticed.

"Were laid spread out before me as her body once did.

All five horizons revolved around her soul

As the earth to the sun

Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn

Ooh, and all I taught her was everything

Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore

And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds…"

"Of what was everything," Hope found herself singing along to the familiar Pearl Jam song. "Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything..."

Noticing the girl's presence in the room, Kurt turned around, facing the petite redhead. She smiled up at him, his dark mysterious eyes gazing into her blue ones.

"You're a really good guitar player," she complimented. He nodded, thanking her. "How long have you been playing?"

"Seven years," He replied.

"Ahh, so you do speak," She commented, smirking. He rolled his eyes, giving her a small smile. "So what bands are you into?" The redhead asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Three Days Grace, A.F.I., Black Sabbath, Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, David Bowie, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Cure, Judas Priest, The Exies, Incubus, Smile Empty Soul…" he listed. She smiled, as this was probably the most he'd ever said to her.

"I like mostly the same stuff… And stuff like My Chemical Romance," she added, and he frowned in distaste.

"Shut up," she defended, smirking a bit. "They're not that bad!" He rolled his eyes, picked up the guitar again.

"Play me something," She commanded, "I'll see if I can recognize it." He shrugged, began to strum.

"Pink Floyd," she said, as he began to play. "Wish You Were Here." She smiled, recognizing the riff in the beginning of her favorite Pink Floyd song. He stopped playing, nodded.

"HOPE!" Deanna's loud voice yelled from downstairs in Julia's room.

"Oh… I have to go," She told him, heading towards the stairs. "Talk to you later."

"You might," He said, smiling a little.

The redhead's smiled back, then left for Julia's room.

"Where the hell were you?" Deanna asked, reaching into a bowl of popcorn.

"Nowhere," she replied, still smiling. The smile upon the girl's cheeks widened as she heard the familiar tune of 'Wish You Were Here' playing from the attic.

* * *

**Wow... if there is a guy out there like Kurt, I'm totally marrying him..**

**Anywho... I know this story isn't getting a lot of reviews, and it's kind of pissing me off, so if you read, and you like (or dislike, whatever) PLEASE REVIEW!!!! It helps me become a better writer, and makes me laugh when you type stupid things like "OMG UPDATE SOON". Either way, I want you to review**

**And I know you want to anyway... sooooo... press the cool purple button.**

**Because I'm worth it.**


	4. Romance

"Well, you managed to survive your first week of high school," Darcy Stone joked as her daughter, Jessica entered the kitchen. The teen rolled her eyes in response, grabbing a diet soda from the fridge.

"Barely… Who gives an essay on the first week of school? Kwan is such a bitch!"

"Watch your language," Her mother scolded, frowning at her daughter.

"I'm sorry, but it's true. And she's like eighty years old, too." Darcy laughed, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Aside from that, how do you like the school? Did you meet any cute boys?" Jess groaned, embarrassed.

"It's a good thing MJ's not here. She would so make fun of you for that. And no, I did not meet any 'cute boys'," She replied, air quoting the phrase her mother had used.

"Should we really be encouraging that anyway?" Her father, Peter asked, as he entered the house, and walked into the kitchen.

"Please, dad. I know not to date anyone who acted like you did." As many times as she had heard Mary Jane complain about having three other siblings, she honestly would have rather talked to an annoying older brother than her lame parents.

"Why'd you even marry him, mom? I've heard all of the stupid things he did in high school…"

"Hey," Peter cut in defensively, "We brought you into this world, and I will take you out of it. Besides… I've changed."

"Not much," Darcy joked, kissing her husband. Jessica rolled her eyes, started to walk out of the room.

"Excuse me while I go gouge my eyes out."

XxX

"He doesn't even notice me," Lily Michalchuk complained, lying down on her friend, Cassie Brooks' bed.

"Why would you even want him to?" Cassie questioned, picking up random articles of clothing in search for her sports equipment.

"Because, he's sooo cute… And soo funny… And sooo single!" She reasoned, grinning.

"And soo lame. He thinks he's so popular because he dresses all 'skaterish' and thinks he's good at basketball. He's not that great. And his jokes aren't even funny. And he's not that hot."

"What are you talking about!?" Lily exclaimed, jumping up from the bed. "Jeremy Yorke is the hottest guy in the entire school."

"Okay, I know I'm two years younger than you," Cassie said, lifting up a dirty gym sock from the floor, "But here's some sagely advice. Stop chasing after losers. Your last boyfriend…"

"Okay, just because he was a total jerk and gave me an eraser for our two month anniversary doesn't mean Jeremy will be the same way…"

"Maybe it's good that guys never notice us…"

"What is wrong with you!?"

"I don't know… having a family of six sometimes drives you over the edge. Maybe I'm just insane," She replied, then smiled as she found the shin guard she'd been looking for under a large pile of clothes.

"Eww…" Lily replied, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

XxX

"How about this one?" Taylor Manning asked, holding up a random article of clothing to her friend, Haley Mason.

"Eww…" Haley replied, frowning, "That's attracting the wrong crowd. Is that even yours?"

Taylor examined the black corset she had been holding, and then threw it on the ground, on top of a pile of clothing.

"That was Julia's…"

"Eww, gross…"

"Look, Kevin and I are finally getting back together. It's really important that I look sexy for our date tonight!"

"Okay, then you're going to need new clothes," Haley stated, holding up a hot pink halter-top. "This is so old! Didn't you have this last year?"

"Yes," Taylor said, grabbing the shirt from her, "And I still like it. Besides, it's not my fault my parents can't afford a damned thing around here."

"Maybe if they got rid of Julia…"

"I wish…" She said with a sigh.

"Let's go shopping… I'm sure Eric would be willing to drive us… I'll even pay, okay?"

"Thanks," Taylor replied, smiling as they left the room together. The two began to gossip as they headed downstairs.

"What is that?" Ashley asked, pointing at Taylor's skirt.

"It's a skirt, mom. Any more pointless questions?" She rolled her eyes. Parents did not know anything about fashion anymore.

"Yeah. Are you kidding me? Go upstairs and put on a real skirt."

"Mom-"

"Hola, familia!" Mike exclaimed, entering the house, Jake, Tara, and Michele following him.

"Mike, must you insist on saying that every time you come over?"

"Yeah. Are you guys having tacos for dinner again?"

The girls used this distraction to leave the house without further questions. They walked down the street until they reached Haley's house.

"Thank god Mike's such an idiot," Haley commented.

"Yeah," Taylor said, smirking, "And kind of hot."

"Ew, are you serious?"

"Uhh… No. Come on, I seriously need to go shopping before tonight."

XxX

"I'm not gay!" Mike defended as he sat down in a booth with his three friends at their favorite restaurant, The Dot.

"Then explain to me why you haven't had a date in so long," Jake said, picking up a menu.

"Maybe he just hasn't found the right girl yet," Michele defended, smiling at Mike.

"Aww… That's so sweet, Mikey," Tara commented. Her expression turned to anger as she hit Jake on the arm. "Why don't you do anything sweet for me?"

Jake rolled his eyes, turning to Mike.

Mike just smirked at him.

"Maybe Jakey here is the one who's gay. Sorry kid, I like someone. And it's not you."

"That hurts, man. Right here." Jake said, gesturing to his heart. "But Tara's-"

"OOOHH You like someone?" Tara squealed, interrupting her boyfriend. She whipped around to face Mike, staring at him hopefully. "Who?"

Mike looked embarrassed for a few minutes, and then quickly recovered before anyone could see.

"Your mom." The boy said with a grin. Tara rolled her eyes.

"Seriously."

"Sssseriousssly it's your mom! I have a thing for red heads. They're hot."

"You're disgusting."

"Yup, I know."

"That doesn't mean you're off the hook. I'm still gonna find out who it is." Mike looked at Jake for help.

"Dude can you shut her up? Please?"

"I haven't been able to since the day I asked her out," he joked. Tara smacked him on the arm again.

"Shut up."


	5. Teenagers

"Who is she?" Tara asked for the millionth time that night. She, Michele, Mike, and Jake were all piled inside of Mike's car, as he drove the gang home.

"Man, just tell her! I'm getting a headache!" Jake complained loudly from the back seat. Tara smacked him upside the head, persisted to ask.

"What grade is she in? Ninth? Tenth? Eleventh? Our grade?"

"Fifth, you disturbing pedophile?" Jake asked, joking.

"Young lady, I will pull over right now if you can't be quiet!"

"I'm sorry," Michele said, "Were you talking to Jake or Tara?"

"Jake," He replied with a laugh.

"Mike, man, you're not very good at multitasking. I suggest you drive and shut up before you crash the car and we all go to hell."

"It's Friday. We're out for two days," The darker skinned boy replied, grinning.

"The day that I see Mike and Jake act serious is the day that hell is going to freeze over," The blonde commented from the backseat, teasing her boyfriend.

"Not before pigs start flying," Michele commented. The girls sniggered as both of the boys rolled their eyes, ignoring them.

XxX

"Yeah, totally," Taylor said, gazing into the eyes of her on and off again boyfriend, Kevin Santos. He was now rambling on about some new car or something that she had no interest in whatsoever. Maybe he was her boyfriend again, but that didn't stop her from imagining the possibility of being with someone else besides Kevin. Someone who would take her to a fancier restaurant, other than this crappy diner. Granted this was all either of them could afford, but she deserved better. There was also the possibility that someone out there actually cared about her interests and wouldn't rambled on about their own interests all the time. Still, she couldn't help feeling drawn back to Kevin.

"Tay, are you having fun?" He asked, picking up a fry from the large plate in the center of the table. She smiled, nodded along, sipping from her glass of water. _'Hmm… I wonder what Mike Hogart is like on a date…'_ the girl thought, pushing a dark strand of hair behind her ear.

"So anyway, I was about to t-" Kevin was interrupted as a young man with shaggy brown hair approached their table.

"Are you guys finished here?" Jeremy Yorke asked, giving the two a fake smile.

"Yeah. And you need to clean this table, waiter. It's disgusting," Taylor commented, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Maybe he was sort of cute, but that didn't excuse the poor service she had received earlier this night.

"Yeah," Kevin grunted in agreement.

"Yes, your highness," The waiter replied rolling his eyes, as he lifted their plates from the table and walked away.

XxX

The door opened and closed as the fourteen year old girl tiptoed in, trying to avoid any confrontation with her parents. She knew what was coming, and had been trying to avoid it all day. She smiled to herself as she passed the living room to see her father sitting on the couch watching a football game. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe-

"MJ?" she heard a voice call. The young girl sighed, turning away from the steps to face her mother. She just wanted to be alone in her room without anyone making a big deal about it. Was that too much to ask for? Being the youngest, she was usually ignored anyway, so what made today any different?

"Why don't you tell us how your first week went?" Alex said; sounding uncharacteristically cheerful as she led her exasperated daughter into the living room.

"So.. Mary-Jane," Alex began, sitting next to her husband. "How do you-" The phone rang, relieving Mary Jane as her mother left to go answer it. She was almost out of the room when her father turned to face her.

"So. How _was _your first day?" Mary Jane looked at him in disbelief. Why was he asking now?

"First _week._"

"Uh.. right. So, what grade are you in now?" The girl rolled her eyes. This sounded more like him.

"Ninth, Dad." She replied in a flat voice. "Mom put you up to this didn't she?" Jay shrugged.

"Maybe. Am I not allowed to ask?" His daughter said nothing, just sighed in annoyance.

"High school sucks, doesn't it?" Jay said, smirking. "I never liked it either. Never went back. " He turned away to focus on some stupid beer commercial for a second. Mary Jane just stared at him, too confused to say anything. What was this? Share your feelings hour?

"Dad, you're just doing all this because you think you've been ignoring me, right?"

"No. I'm just trying to give you advice, the same thing I told your brothers and sister. I.. I made a lot of mistakes in high school. I don't want you to turn out the same way." Her father told her in a seldom-heard serious tone. "I'd rather you turn out like your mother and graduate." He continued, smirking.

"Um… okay." Mary Jane said slowly, unsure of how to answer.

"Yeah. So… Did you make any new friends at that place?" Now she understood. Her parents were acting so concerned because they thought she had no friends. That she was a shut in. She opened her mouth to reply, a smart remark ready. Alex appeared in the doorway.

"MJ, Jess's on the phone for you." Guess that answered his non-stop questions, MJ thought, smirking to herself.

"Can I be excused?" she drawled, sarcasm dripping off every word. Not giving him a chance to reply, she hurriedly left the room, ignoring his questioning gaze.

"Hey Lexi, do we have any beer?" Once again, Mary Jane sighed in annoyance, then picked up the phone. _'Thank God for Jess,'_ She thought.

XxX

"I'm so… Bored!" Deanna complained, sighing in both frustration and annoyance, lying down on Julia's bed. The girls were sprawled out over Julia's bedroom floor, deciding what to do on their boring Friday night.

"Tell me about it," Julia agreed, rolling her eyes as she sat down on the stool in back of her drum set. She began to lazily play with the drumsticks, tapping the drums randomly, a bored expression apparent on her face.

"Tell me, why is it that every Friday night, everyone has something to do except us?" Deanna inquired, turning to face Julia.

"We could watch a movie," Hope suggested, rising from her position upon Julia's bed.

"Is there anything good out?" Their brunette friend asked, glancing at Hope. She thought for a moment, a look of deep concentration upon her face.

"Nope," She answered.

"Okay, I'm not spending my Friday nights at home," Julia said, rising from where she sat. "Come on, we're going to the mall."

"Hey, you don't get to take charge," Deanna snapped, "That's my job."

"Just shut up and come on," Julia replied, leaving the small bedroom. The two girls followed her as she walked down the flight of stairs.

"Dad can you drive us to the- Oh my god!" She stopped abruptly on the last step at the sight of her parents making out on the living room sofa.

"Let me handle this," Deanna muttered, "POOR IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN ENTERING THE ROOM!" She yelled with experience, "LET'S KEEP IT PG IN HERE!" The two pulled apart, shocked, sat up, and began to straighten up.

"There's that guitar pick I was looking for," Craig stated, pretending to pick up something and place it into his pocket.

"What did you guys need?" Ashley asked, rising from the sofa. Julia frowned in distaste, turned away.

"We were going to ask for a ride to the mall, but now that you've scarred us for life, I don't think that's necessary anymore," Deanna spoke up, smirking.

"You need to make some new friends," Craig muttered, leaving the room.

"I heard that, Mr. Manning," the brunette stated, knowing the man was joking.

"Okay, well while you're listening to adults for once, you need to tell your dad that he has to return the beer he stole earlier."

"Yeah right. Like it's still there," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"You know what? Maybe Kurt wants to come," Julia said, interrupting the two. "He might be willing to drive us."

"I'll go ask him," Hope said, perhaps a little too anxiously. The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.

"He really doesn't talk to anyone, but if you think he'll talk to you, then go ahead," She replied.

"And hurry up. I feel more and more like a loser every minute we're still in here. Even the elderly are getting more action than us," Deanna remarked, smirking at Craig who had returned to the living room.

"Only from a Hogart…" The man muttered, sitting back down on the couch with his wife.

XxX

"Kurt?" The redhead called, entering the young man's room in the attic. Unlike the last time she had entered the room, he was sitting on his bed, pen and notebook in his hands.

"Kurt?" She repeated, approaching the dark haired boy. He slowly shut the notebook, glanced up at the redhead questioningly. She gave him a shy smile, somewhat nervous about asking him a simple question.

"What were you doing?" She asked. She gazed over at him. Dark strands of hair hung in front of his mysterious eyes, an unreadable expression upon his face. His appearance matched his personality; mysterious, dark, unpredictable, yet it was something she loved about him. Not that she loved him, of course. How weird would it be for her to like her best friend's brother?

She glanced away nervously, feeling his eyes upon her now. He was staring into her blue-grey eyes, as if trying to see right through her. And she somehow felt that he could. That he knew everything she was thinking at the moment. That he could read her like a book.

After the long pause, she had finally realized that he hadn't answered her question yet.

"Anyway…" She continued, ignoring the awkward silence, "Umm… Julia, Deanna, and I are going to the mall. Julia wants to know if you want to come with us…"

He shrugged, turned away.

"I know you have that whole 'I'm antisocial' thing going on for you, but why don't you just come?"

"Why would I want to?" He inquired, throwing the question back at her.

"It's not like we're going into Abercrombie or anything…" He said nothing, the silence arguing his point.

"Come on, Kurt," She pleaded, "It'll be you, the only sibling that you like, and two other weird girls who always come to your house and steal most of the food."

He was focusing hard, trying not to laugh at her attempt at humor. A small smile played on the ends of his lips, and he glanced back over at the petite redhead. She smiled, hoping she was somehow winning him over.

"Please?"

"Why do you want me to?" He questioned. She thought about it. Why did she want him to? Julia used to always try to drag him along when they went places, but she never paid much attention to it. Why all of the sudden did she need him to come with them?

"I…uh… Julia really does," She stated, avoiding the conversation.

"Does she?" He asked, knowing she was lying. It was strange. She had known him her whole life, but only as Julia's older brother who never really hung out with them. She had only just started talking to him and he automatically knew what she was thinking.

"Just come on. It'll be fun," She pressed.

"Will it?" This was becoming a game to him now, questioning every single thing she said. She sighed annoyed, started over towards the steps.

"You're so frustrating!"

"Am I?"

"Stop it!" He remained silent. She smirked triumphantly, as she had won that time. She glanced once again at the dark haired young man, then sighed, walking down the steps. As she walked downstairs, she joined her friends who stood at the steps waiting for her.

"Thank God you're back, Hope," Deanna commented, "Mr. Manning, here was ever so boringly describing his teenage life to us." Julia rolled her eyes.

"Hey! I was just telling you guys that when I was in high school, I had a-"

"Band. Yeah, we know. And you guys played crappy shows instead of wasting Grandpa Joey's money at the mall. And you were so perfect. Thanks, Dad, I'll pass on the story to future generations," Julia remarked.

"I told you having kids was a bad idea," Craig said to his wife.

"Whose fault was that?" Ashley countered, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Anyway," Julia interrupted, "What did Kurt say?"

"Oh… I asked him, but-" Just then, the dark haired young man walked down the steps, placing a car key into his back pocket.

"What are you doing down here?" Hope asked, staring at him.

"Just decided that _it would be fun_ to go to the mall," He replied, smirking. Hope rolled her eyes.

"Okay then… Let's go," Julia said, glancing between the two suspiciously.

"Finally," Deanna said, sighing.

* * *

**A/n: I realize that right now, most of the story is just random stuff... and mostly humor, not drama, but we're getting to that...**

**Also, there will be other characters in the story (not main characters... Just other classmates, and friends in their groups and stuff...) So if you want to be an extra character, you can just add that in your review... (And don't be offended if we make you friends with some bitchy girl... We don't mean to do it on purpose... We just need more people... So if you do it, and your character's a bitch, it's not cause we don't like you... It's because we need more characters. Sooo... if you're interested in being an extra character, leave your name in the review and you can tell us who you would want to hang out with (I'm not garunteeing anything) and you can't be friends with Kurt or Daniel because they're antisocial.**

**I've rambled enough.**

**And the reason I said 'we' and 'us' is because I'm cowriting it with someone, if you remember. I'm not schizo. **

**I should really stop rambling now. Click the button.**

**(More rambling... Thank you invest.yourself.in.me. for your help with this chapter and the last one! I love YOUUUUUU)**


	6. Punk Rock Princess

"Can we please leave now?" Mike complained as he watched Tara and Michele attempt to decide which shoes they liked the best. Although he had been driving them home, Tara had insisted that she needed to go shopping, making him turn around and drive to the mall. It felt as if they had been standing there forever, as both girls were horrible at making decisions.

"Which one do you like better?" Tara asked, holding up two pairs of Ugg boots.

"Aren't they the same?" Jake questioned, not really looking over at what she was holding up.

"No! These are brown, and _these_ are more of a tan color!" She cried, as if he had insulted her.

"Get the brown ones, okay? The brown ones." Jake said, holding his hands up in defeat.

"So you like the brown ones?" Tara repeated back to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Are you sure? You like the brown ones the best?"

"Yes."

"You think I'd look best in the brown ones?"

"Yes!"

"So what you're saying," Michele cut in, "Is that Tara should buy the brown ones."

"Are you guys retarded? Yes! That's what I said!" Both girls turned toward each other, nodding.

"Okay," Tara announced, "I'm getting the tan ones."

"Oh, thank God!" Mike exclaimed happily, grabbing the box with the tan colored boots in them and running to the front of the store.

"Man, they're gonna think you're a fruitcake."

"I'm not gay!" He cried defensively for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"Then why won't you tell us who you like?" Michele asked, a small smile playing on the ends of her lips.

"I don't reveal my secrets, honey," Mike replied, winking at her, "Now, if we're done shopping for stuff to cover up Tara's nasty feet-"

"Hey!"

"I'd really like to go get something to eat, and then go check out any new CDs."

"Let's go to Starbucks!" Michele suggested, causing Jake and Mike to groan.

"What's wrong with Starbucks?"

"I don't even know what I'm ordering!" The darker skinned boy complained overdramatically. "What the hell is a machiatto?"

"A machiatto-"

"Forget it, Michele, he'll never understand it," Tara said, rolling her eyes.

"Man, why did we even come?"

"Because she's your girlfriend and you have no backbone," Mike joked, grinning.

"Yeah? Well…"

"You don't even have a comeback. Looks like I've outsmarted you." He smiled, evidently proud of himself.

"Oh… Mikey… And who was it that you like again?" Jake asked, an innocent smile spreading across his face.

"Oh, right!" Tara exclaimed excitedly as they left the store together. "You're still not off the hook for that. Who is she?"

"I already said your mom, Tara. What do you want from me? It's already hard enough to live with it knowing that your dad will always come between us…"

"You're so gross," Michele commented.

"Must I be blamed for following my hearts desire? Wasn't Romeo in his twenties when he wanted to marry a thirteen year old Juliet?" Jake stopped, staring at his friend.

"How the hell would you know?"

"I… uhh… Hey, Michele, didn't you want one of those machiatto things? I'm paying." Michele grinned and thanked him as Tara turned, looking expectantly at Jake.

"Dammit Mike," He muttered under his breath, "I guess I'll pay for your disgusting coffee thing…" Tara flashed him an appreciative grin, then rushed up to the counter to place her order.

XxX

"Do you smell that?" Deanna asked, brushing back a strand of her dyed hair.

"It's the smell of commercialism, teenage hormones, and fat people gorging themselves on all this wonderful, delicious, high calorie food." Hope answered. "Yep, we're most definitely at the mall." Julia rolled her eyes at her two friends, and glanced at Kurt. Since when did he ever agree to do something that she wanted? He avoided crowds as much as possible, so it absolutely made no sense for him to be here. He was never much of a social person, especially after _The Incident. _He'd become more and more withdrawn until Julia was the only person he would talk to, but even then he wouldn't say much. Lately she'd noticed that he'd been acting different, happier. Like-

"Hello? Jules? Jules? JULIA!" Deanna cried, waving a hand in front of her face. Julia grabbed her hand, forcing it down by her side.

"Sorry?" The dark haired girl questioned.

"Did you suddenly go brain dead on us or something? I asked you what you wanted to do." Deanna explained, gesturing to some shops.

"Do you really do all those hand gestures on purpose?" Hope laughed, teasing her friend.

"Do you really.." Deanna trailed off, desperately trying to think of a comeback. A pause, and then: "Your mom." She finished dejectedly.

"Wow.. was that the best you could come up with? Or did you just let me win?" Hope asked, questioning her with a smirk. "That's something that I would expect from your brother."

"From who? Which of her brothers were you talking about? You have to be more specific, because, yeah. You know my parents," came a voice from behind them.

The three girls, plus Kurt turned around. Mike and Jake were walking over to them, Starbucks cups in hand, while Tara and Michele followed, clutching their own drinks. "I'm the cooler one anyway," Mike continued, his eyes on his sister and her friends. So. What are you girls doing here? Going to go pick out some toys from the toy store? Getting some new Barbie dolls?" He joked.

"No, no, dear brother. Jules, Hope, and I are here to go look for some new lingerie." Deanna shot back sarcastically. Her brother blushed, shooting a quick glance at Michele then looking away.

"Don't say that in here!" The boy gasped loudly, feigning shock, and causing several people to stare at him. "You can't say that in public!" Julia stood back and watched all of this with an amused expression on her face, trying to repress her laughter, as her two friends smirked at his embarrassment. The boy then turned to Tara and Michele.

"You two can't say that in public either."

"Ok, so we're gonna go to Victoria's Secret," Tara said, flipping her long blond hair over her shoulder. "And we're gonna need help with our bags," She continued, ignoring the horrified look on both the boys' faces. Michele laughed.

"Let's go then." The girl said, as she left with Tara, both boys trailing reluctantly after them.

"You're not planning to humiliate us or anything, right?" The girls heard Jake ask as they walked away.

"Man, your brother's such a card." Julia remarked, her eyes on Mike's retreating form, then turning her gaze to Deanna.

"Yeah, and look who had a crush on him?" Deanna said, playfully hitting her friend on the arm, a lot harder than she'd intended.

"What the hell?" Julia blurted, staggering back.

"Sorry." Deanna replied. The girls fell silent as they watched a mob of particularly loud girls walk past, gossiping and laughing. As usual, it was Deanna who broke the silence.

"Um, Julia? Were you planning on shopping sometime today, or are we just going to stand here, growing older? And I think your brother's getting a bit bored with us." Julia turned to face the young man, who was leaning against the wall, trying his best to look interested.

"Kurt, you don't have to stay with us if you don't want to. Go look around."

"Yeah," Hope chimed in. "You don't have to stay with us, but-" The redhead suddenly blushed, and focused her gaze on the ground. "Um, I mean, what do you want to do?" Shifting her position, she slowly raised her gaze, resting it on his face. His hazel eyes were piercing her blue-gray ones. She gave him a small smile, biting her lip nervously under the intensity of his gaze. He frowned as if deep in thought, face brightening as if he had an idea. Grabbing her arm, he started off across the mall, with her following close behind him.

"Uhh…" Deanna began, but was interrupted as Julia elbowed her harshly in the side. "But she just left us-"

"Dee, just shut up." She stared off after the two, a sly smirk plastered upon her face.

"Aren't you the least bit weirded out by that?"

"Whatever makes them happy," She said, shrugging.

XXx

"You wanna tell me where you're dragging me?"

"Am I dragging you somewhere?" He shot the question back at her. She pondered it. Had he dragged her? Or had she been more than willing to ditch her two friends and go off with him? Were they even going anywhere, or did he just want to go off with her?

"Would you stop with that?"

"You're easily annoyed," He commented, a small smirk playing at the ends of his lips. She rolled her eyes, smiled back.

"No… If you want to know someone who's really annoyed, go talk to my dad. He will literally glare at you at the dinner table if you're chewing too loudly. He gets annoyed by the sound of someone opening a Coke can." She paused, noticing that they were nearing a music store in the crowded mall.

"Hey, do you want to go look around?" The redhead asked, motioning to the store. He shrugged, walking in anyway. Following him into the store, she glanced around at all the instruments, and noticed that Kurt's attention had been diverted to a large drum set that sat in the corner of the store.

"You play drums too?"

"I taught Julia guitar, she taught me drums," he replied shrugging.

"I've always wanted to learn guitar. My mom taught me bass, but I still wish I could learn guitar," Hope commented, sitting down on a black metallic stool that lay near the wall. Kurt carefully lifted a black Fender Strat from the wall, sat down on the stool near her.

"If you want, I could show you…" He said quietly, looking up at her through the dark hair in his eyes.

"Yeah," The girl replied, smiling, "That'd be cool." He nodded, lifted the guitar, and handed it to her.

"You like Nirvana?"

"Yeah…" Kurt paused, then looked back over, as if he had just come up with an idea.

"Try this." The raven haired young man stood behind her, placed her pinky and ring finger on the second frets of the A and D strings. He reached over, pulled out a guitar pick from his back pocket, handing it to her. She took it, blushing slightly as her hand brushed against his. She strummed the chord once, looked up at Kurt for approval.

"E minor," He confirmed, nodding. "Not bad, Cameron."

"Alright, Hope!" Deanna shouted, entering the store. Several customers stared at her loud and abrupt entrance. "We should have a band," She suggested, staring at the two. "We'll call it Deanna… and those other guys."

"Dammit, Deanna," Hope muttered under her breath.

"I thought I said we were going into Hot Topic," Julia said, entering the store behind her friend.

"Yeah, but I ditched you, seeing as I was suddenly given the opportunity to annoy or humiliate my dear friend. What have you two crazy kids been up to?"

"Apparently planning your eightieth birthday party. Who talks like that?" Hope asked.

"Come on grandma," Julia said, grabbing Deanna's arm and dragging her out of the store. She smirked at Hope as she left, causing the girl to roll her eyes.

"So what were you saying about Nirvana?"

"E minor is one of the chords in 'Come As You Are'. It's pretty simple… I'll show it to you if you want."

"Yeah," The redhead smiled brightly up at him, "Yeah, I'd like that."

* * *

**A/n: Not really... getting a lot of reviews here...  
So... who do you want to be in the next chapter?**

**There's going to be Mike, Michele, Tara, Jake, Kurt, Hope, Julia, and Deanna, as usual, and more of Daniel...**

**And there may be Jeremy, Lily, or some other people. Who do you guys want to see more of?**

**More reviews ... Please????**

**-XshotgunXsinner4X  
...And the very sexy...  
-Invest.yourself.in.me**


	7. Smells Like Teen Spirit

"Must you spoil my fun?" Deanna asked her friend as she allowed herself to be dragged across the mall to Julia's favorite store, Hot Topic.

"You're clearly trying to embarrass her."

"Did you hear me? I said, 'Must you spoil my fun?'"

"And that's fun…how?"

"It's fun because-" She stopped mid-sentence, grabbing her friend's arm.

"What?" Julia asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"Shh!" Deanna hushed her, pulling the darker haired girl aside.

"Because we clearly can be heard from across the mall," Julia teased, referring to the noisy crowded building.

"It's him… Daniel's here."

"Ooh." The raven-haired girl said, a smirk playing at the ends of her lips. "Alright, then I'll go to Hot Topic alone." She began to walk off in the other direction, but was roughly pulled back by her friend.

"Ow?"

"You can't just leave me here! It'll look like I'm at the mall by myself."

"Oh no!" Julia gasped, feigning terror.

"Only losers go to the mall by themselves!"

"_He's _at the mall by himself."

"Uhh, yeah. If you haven't noticed, he does a lot of things by himself. He's very independent," She explained, smiling in the young man's direction. He walked into a CD store, disregarding her stare.

"Wow… You so deserve to be made fun of right now."

"Julia, this is serious."

"I thought embarrassing your friends was supposed to be fun…"

"Only I can do that. Now let's go in there."

"What is wrong with you, Deanna? Tall, blonde, and handsome walks by and your personality switches to that of a typical teenager. _I'm _going to Hot Topic. _You're_ going into that store. I'll see you later, okay?" She turned around, walking off to the clothing store.

"You did _not_ just call me a typical teenager." Deanna called after her, clearly offended. Julia smiled innocently, continuing to walk towards the store.

"Dammit, Manning…"

**XxX**

"I just think that maybe we could add a couple more things to it…"

"Em, we probably have the largest vegetarian menu known to man. Do we really need to add any other food to it?"

"There should be options available."

"I think we have more celery sticks than we do hamburger meat."

"Is that a problem?" Emma asked her husband, with a glare that read "Just try me."

"Alright, I'm getting sick of this crap." Jeremy declared loudly, as he walked into the back of the kitchen, throwing a stack of menus on the counter.

"To tell you the truth, son, I never really liked crap to begin with."

"Your jokes are losing their humor, JT," Emma told him, feigning disappointment.

"Why the hell did you buy a restaurant, dad? What were you thinking?"

"I honestly don't know," His father replied, shrugging.

"You might as well hang a sign outside that says, 'Assholes eat for free'. That's how many this place has attracted."

"Did that old man come back again?" JT questioned, walking over to the door.

"I thought you told him he wasn't allowed to come back here…"

"No… It's actually people from my school, complaining because of a microscopic blemish on the ever-so-clearly fancy table. This is a grill and bar, not a fancy restaurant with a name you can't pronounce."

"I'm offended, Jer," JT replied, pretending to be insulted.

"This is Friday night. I should be out somewhere… with friends… Not waiting tables and raising my blood pressure as I deal with the rude remarks from people who probably have houses way messier than our restaurant."

"Jeremy, this is just for tonight. And besides, you're getting paid," Emma told him, wiping down a counter.

"Jeremy," His sister called, opening the door partway. "There's a table full of angry looking people that want to talk to you.

"Alright, Mel, thanks," He replied, walking over to the back exit.

"Jeremy, get back out there," Emma scolded, pointing in the other direction. He scowled, left the kitchen grumbling under his breath.

"Yes?" Jeremy asked, trying to remain calm, although the agitation was clear in his voice.

"I asked for a Coke, not a diet Coke," A rather large woman stated, holding out her drink. He looked down, resisting the urge to make a comment, then looked back up.

"Are you sure? I'm almost positive that the Coke I gave you was regular."

"Yes I'm sure," she spat, angrily, "I can taste the difference."

"I'm sure you can," he muttered under his breath. He then looked back up at the woman, "I apologize. I'll go get you another one, free of cost." The shaggy haired young man turned to walk away, but was called back a second time.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"This ketchup is warm."

"Yes it is, sir. We don't refrigerate it."

"Well we always refrigerate it at our house," he said, motioning to his wife and himself.

"It's disgusting when it's warm," The woman added.

"How many restaurants have you been to that actually refrigerated the ketchup?" He snapped, glaring at the couple. They remained silent. As he turned to walk back to the kitchen, he was called back yet again.

"There's a hair in my food!"

"What?"

"See? In my burger," the woman complained, motioning towards the food. Jeremy pulled it out, examining it.

"This is yours, ma'am. No one in the kitchen has grey hair. You do." He spun around, walked back to the counter, ignoring the woman's cries of protest.

"Jeremy?"

"WHAT?" As he spun around, he realized that the voice belonged to a girl in his class. Lily… Lily Michalchuk, maybe?

"Oh… sorry…" He apologized, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair.

"It's fine…"

"So what did you want?"

"Oh… I um… I didn't know you worked here… Just wanted to say hi…"

"Yeah… my parents kind of own the place… So I'm forced to work here."

"Oh… cool."

"You could say that…" 'But you'd be wrong,' he thought to himself.

"You don't look like you're having too much fun with it," She said with a smile, absent-mindedly twirling a strand of her fair blonde hair.

"Nope, not with most of the people that come in here. I'm surprised to see you in here… This is like jackass central." She laughed shyly, looking down at the floor.

"See something you like down there?" He joked, following her gaze.

"No… just-"

"JEREMY!" He heard his mother call from the kitchen.

"Shit…" he muttered, "Sorry, Lily. I have to go." He explained, sighing as he turned and walked back to the kitchen.

**XxX**

"What about tomorrow?" Hope asked, trying to schedule a time for Kurt to begin teaching her guitar. He nodded, selected a pack of guitar picks, and walked over to the counter to purchase the item.

"Well, well, well…" Hope spun around as she heard the familiar voice. Behind her stood her cousin, Lindsey, bearing a smug grin.

"Well what?"

"Well look who has themselves a little boyfriend…"

"Mmkay, first off, he's not 'little'. Have you seen his biceps? And second, we're just friends."

"Umm yeah. He's been in my class since…what, pre-school? Even before then, maybe. Not once have I seen him be friends with anyone besides his sister. Can you honestly tell me this means nothing?"

"Can you honestly tell me that it is necessary for you to butt in?"

"Yes. So do you think he'll be asking you out soon?"

"I don't know! Why does this matter so much?"

"So I'm not allowed to be interested in my cousin's love life?"

"It's not my 'love life' because we're _just friends_."

"Honey, there's no such thing."

"Uh… so you're not 'just friends' with Mike or Jake?"

"That's different-" As the young man finished buying the guitar picks and started to make his way over to Hope, she quickly ushered her cousin away.

"Hurry up, he's coming!" She whispered, pushing Lindsey behind a shelf. The redhead stepped out from behind the shelf, grinning broadly.

"Hey, ready to go?" He nodded.

"Were you just talking to someone?"

"Uh… yeah… had my cell phone. Julia called, asking about some CD that was coming out soon," She lied.

Kurt nodded again, flipping back the strands of dark hair that had fallen into his eyes.

"Can we go or is there something else you want to look at?" He asked.

" No. No Let's go." The petite readhead stated hurriedly, practically dragging him out of the store. Glancing over her shoulder, she flashed a triumphant smile at her cousin, who returned the smile with an eye roll, and a look that clearly said "_yeah, right."_

"Hope?"

"Coming." And with that, she turned her back on her cousin and followed Kurt out of the store.

* * *

**A/n: Sorry it's been months since an update... Busy with shit... Plus we were starting to think that no one was reading this...**

**Anywho... next chapter is probably going to feature Deanna/Daniel, possibly reveal who Mike likes, more Hope/Kurt, and if there is a specific person that you want to read more about, just say so.**

**On a side note, I put in the background information that Ashley would work part-time at the Dot. I'm actually going to make her teach piano lessons at Craig's music store.**

**And I also said that Emma would help run the Dot with JT... But I would also like her to be the school psychologist/guidance counselor for Degrassi.**

**Yeah, that's about it.  
I know you guys love reading my little author's notes, but sadly it's over. **

**Now you can review )**


	8. Chapter 8

_'Stay calm,' _Deanna thought to herself, _'He's not going to like you if you say something stupid and look like a total freak.'_ Noticing that the blonde was turning around, the girl quickly placed herself in front of a rack of cds.

_'Pretend you're surprised to see him here- Shit! I'm standing in front of a bunch of Fergie cds.' _The brunette quickly moved to another part of the store and began to browse through the Metallica section. _'He likes Metallica, right? God I am such a loser for even caring…'_

"Hogart." Deanna spun around, a wide grin replacing the nervous expression she previously wore.

"Hey Cameron. Are you stalking me now?"

"You wish." He paused, grinning, licked his lips, "No. It was either come here or stay at home and try to watch TV with my parents doing some not so inconspicuous flirting in the background." Daniel smirked at the disgusted look Deanna now wore on her face.

"Thanks for that," she replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"If you really want to thank me, you could step aside and stop blocking the Metallica section," he said with a smirk. Deanna rolled her eyes, held her arms out to block his view of the other cds as well.

"I'll move you myself if I have to." He paused, "Unless that was what you were hoping for." The brunette dropped her arms, glared at him.

"Please! Do you know how humiliating it would be for me to throw up right here?"

"You mean in front of me?" His smirk grew wider.

"No, asshole, in the mall in front of all of these people."

"I thought Deanna Hogart didn't care what people thought about her."

"I don't," she stated, stepping out of his way, "Because most people aren't worth my time." With that, she exited the store and went to go meet up with Julia.

XxX

"Tara," the redhead began hesitantly, standing in her sister's doorway.

"What?" She asked, though it came out as more of a statement. Her eyes remained focused on the page of the magazine she was reading, her back leaning against the headboard of her bed.

Hope rolled her eyes, "Nevermind. Since I can see that you're _so _busy reading _Vogue_ or whatever-"

"It's _Seventeen_," she corrected, then sat up on the bed, and closed the magazine, "I'm listening…"

"Well… it's just…" She paused, her eyes focused on the ground. "How did you know that Jake liked you?"

"I knew it!" Lindsey shouted, popping out from behind the opened door of Tara's closet. Her hands were filled with light colored skirts and shirts.

"Don't drop those," Tara warned. She turned to face her sister, "So what's up?"

"Well… you and Jake have been together… for a while… How could you tell that he liked you?" She questioned nervously. Tara smiled.

"I don't know, Hope. That's a completely different situation."

"How so?" The redhead questioned, frowning.

"Because we were four when I could first tell. Remember those lame neighborhood Easter egg hunts? Jake was always so competitive… But then he started giving me all the eggs and candy or whatever…"

"I knew it!" Lindsey shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at Tara, "You totally cheated!"

"Ahem," Tara cleared her throat, rolling her eyes.

"Well… still… how can you tell if a guy likes you?" Hope inquired, giving Lindsey a look that was clearly questioning her cousin's sanity.

"Who's the boy?" Tara asked, a smile forming at the corners of her lips.

"Jake's little brother," Lindsey supplied, with a wink at Hope. She held up a light blue blouse, "Can I borrow this?"

Hope smacked a hand to her forehead. Why had she gone to Tara or Lindsey for help? They wouldn't know. They didn't get Kurt. She wasn't completely sure that _she_ got Kurt.

"Okay, so give me details," her sister said, beaming. She quickly turned to Lindsey, "No," then back to face her sister.

"Well, he's going to start teaching me how to play guitar…"

"No," the blonde said, exasperated, rolling her eyes once again, "How does he act around you?"

Hope found her face heating up; no doubt it had turned bright red. She kept her eyes to the ground. Going to Tara _was_ a bad idea.

"How does who act around whom?" All three of the girls turned around to face Ellie, who seemed to have been on her way downstairs to wash a load of laundry.

"Hope's got herself a boyfriend, Aunt Ell," Lindsey said loudly, a wide smirk upon her face. Ellie expression was a mix of interest and amusement.

"Really? Who?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Hope insisted, her face growing redder by the second.

"Not yet, anyway…"

"Lindsey, SHUT UP! We're just friends!" Ellie looked back and forth between her clearly embarrassed daughter and her other daughter and niece, who seemed to have been enjoying this.

"Girls, leave Hope alone." She turned to leave the room. "If she doesn't want to talk about her boyfriend, she doesn't have to."

"MOM!"

XxX

"So what?" Cassie was evidently unimpressed with Lily's newest confrontation with Jeremy. It was early Saturday morning, and the two were at Degrassi's basketball court: Lily lounging in the grass beside the black top, watching her friend practice lay-ups.

"What do you mean 'so what?' Does it mean he likes me or what?" Cassie rolled her eyes. Lily sounded unsure of herself, something that was just so typical of her. Lily was pretty, smart, and funny. What more did she want? Why was she always falling for losers? She could get almost any guy she wanted. Cassie frowned; she'd never be able to say the same about herself. She was a tomboy. Guys didn't find her attractive, they treated her like one of them.

"I don't know, Lil, maybe he was just being friendly…"

"He's so nice and funny…"

"Mmhmm…" Cassie mumbled, uninterested, as she dribbled the ball up to the basket. Releasing her grip on the ball, it fell through the net with a _swoosh_.

"Nice one, Brooks. Trying out for basketball this year?" Cassie turned around to see that Jeremy had now entered the court.

"Thinkin' about it," she said, tossing him the ball. "I'm also thinking I could make it on to the boys' team," she said, trying to ignore the thought of Lily's facial expression behind her.

"Really?" He said, raising an eyebrow. He threw the ball with one arm, and it swooshed through the hoop as Cassie had done.

"You're on it, right?" She paused, "I could take you…" the dark haired girl challenged.

"Well, as much as I'd like to, I have to get to work and be challenged by people that can't open ketchup bottles. Later, Brooks." With a quick wave to Lily, he left.

Not soon after, Cassie felt Lily grabbing her by the shoulder.

"How could you do that?!"

"Do what?" She questioned, confused.

"Challenge his basketball skills!" Lily exclaimed as if Cassie had done something horrible.

"Please. I'm much better than he is, and you know it."

"Okay…" Lily agreed, then smiled, "Did you see how he waved at me?"

"God, you're hopeless," Cassie said with a sigh.

XxX

Hope was nervous. Sure, she was just going to Julia's house, which was practically her second home (since Deanna's was usually a mess), but this time she wasn't going to see Julia. She was going to see Kurt. Her first guitar lesson with Kurt. _Her_ first guitar lesson _with Kurt_. This was more important than the time Deanna had called her with the emergency of her pet snake getting loose in the house. No, this was big. She knocked on the old wooden door, waiting for the sound of the pounding of footsteps nearing the door.

"Hi Hope," Ashley said with a smile, "Any reason why you knocked this time? Usually you and Deanna just come in."

"Well, uh, Deanna's not here this time, Mrs. Manning. I thought I'd be polite this time." Ashley smirked, "At least one of you is…"

Stepping into the house, Hope was immediately greeted by the Manning's Rottweiler, Ozzy. He barked loudly before running over to lick the palm of her hand.

"Julia's in her room," Ashley told her before walking over to the coffee table in the living room to retrieve her purse. "I have to go attempt to teach some poor tone deaf child how to sing and play the piano." She picked up the black leather purse, threw it over her shoulder, and left through the front door.

"She's spending way too much time with Deanna's mom…" Hope muttered to herself, then began to climb the staircase up to the attic, Ozzy following close behind. She paused outside of Kurt's door, hesitating before knocking. The door opened seconds later to reveal a tall young man, clad in a black t-shirt with the Blue Öyster Cult logo on the front, and a pair of jeans that were baggy on his skinny, yet muscular frame. A small smile appeared on his face that almost reached his dark eyes, which were partially covered with strands of dark hair.

"Hey," Hope said quietly. The redhead silently cursed herself, knowing she was blushing. He said nothing, opened the door further to reveal two chairs and two guitars in the middle of the room.

"I heard you playing 'Enter Sandman' while I was coming up. You're not planning on teaching me Metallica, are you?" She asked nervously.

He smirked, "Let's see how the Nirvana song goes first."

XxX

"Yeah he was."

"I'm telling you, man, I don't remember."

"Jake get the hell over here," Nick Brooks shouted from across the Dot. Raising an eyebrow, Jake walked over to where Nick sat with Mike.

"You know that pale dude that was in those old Harry Potter movies?"

"Which pale guy?" Jake asked, confused as to why they were even having a conversation about this in the first place.

"_Die Hard_ guy," Mike informed.

"Wasn't he that guy in the Kevin Smith movie, _Dogma_?" Nick asked, throwing a glare at Mike.

"I'm telling you, I would have remembered seeing him!" Mike cried defensively.

"Guys…who gives a fuck?"

"I like to be right," Nick stated, leaning back in the booth he was sitting in. Jake rolled his eyes and sat down next to Mike in the opposite booth.

"More importantly, what are you two doing arguing over some guy that was in a Kevin Smith movie when you could be spending your Saturdays with… Chicks?"

"He _was_. I told you, man," Nick said, jabbing a finger in Mike's direction, and wearing a triumphant smile.

"You guys need to get yourselves some girls," Jake said, frowning at the two of them.

"Well since no one around here throws parties anymore, there haven't been any girls to hook up with." Nick complained, the smile leaving his face.

"Yeah, well one of us needs to go get the balls to ask out his secret crush," Jake said, mocking his friend, while Mike frowned at him.

"Just because I haven't asked her out yet doesn't mean…" He paused, "Well anyway, you're whipped. So ha." Mike smiled, evidently pleased with himself.

"Who's the chick anyway? It's not like I'm gonna tell Tara," he said, motioning to the blonde who was chatting away to Melanie, Lindsey, and Michele.

"Man, you can't hide anything from that girl," Nick said, glancing over at Tara. "I told her that Melanie looked hot one day, and she started freaking out at me and telling me to ask her out."

"Why didn't you?" Jake asked, confused.

"That's exactly what she expects me to do," the raven-haired boy replied, squinting in Tara's direction as if she were evil.

"What?"

"Mike, are you gonna ask the girl out or not? Tara won't shut up about it until you do."

"Who is it anyway?" Nick asked, turning to face the two again.

"Michele," Mike mumbled quietly.

"WHAT?" Jake yelled, mocking his friend, a smirk on his face. Several people in the restaurant stared at the table. "What the hell are you looking at?" The dark haired boy asked, scowling at them.

"Man, I don't even know why I told you."

"At least we know he's not gay," Nick noted. Jake smirked, while Mike scowled at the two.

"Go ask her out, man. You're … not completely hideous… She'll say yes," Jake encouraged. "Maybe if you have a girlfriend, people might stop thinking you're gay. And then if Tara and I went on a double date with you two, I'd have something to do while Tara talks for half an hour about a pair of shoes she bought last weekend."

"I thought that was why they gave you the crayons and the kids menu…"

"Nah, man, I have to ask for those." He smirked, lazily leaning back in the booth.

"Okay, get out of my way. I'm going to ask her out." Mike stepped out of the booth, walked over to the table where Michele sat with Melanie, Tara, and Lindsey. All four of the girls looked up at him as he approached the table.

"Hey… Michele, can I talk to you for a minute?"

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of updating... I didn't think anyone was reading it, so I started contemplating deleting the story all together, but then I thought that some people might not have wanted me to...**

**So here it is...**

**If you like it, PLEASE review... I almost deleted this because I didn't think anyone liked it.**

**I do appreciate all the reviews that I have gotten for the past chapters, though.**


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